


A Little Off

by meowchela



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hanging Out, Snowdin (Undertale), bc i stan that theory sm, everyone needs more trash pals in their lives so here i am to provide, friendly get-together, implied sans and alphys past lab partners theory, platonic, skelebros house, tldr sans and alphys are best friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:47:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26663905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meowchela/pseuds/meowchela
Summary: Alphys sees something is wrong with Sans during a house visit, so she tries to cheer him up.
Relationships: Alphys & Sans (Undertale), minor alphyne bc i love my wlw
Comments: 5
Kudos: 23





	A Little Off

Something wasn’t right with Sans.   
Alphys noticed it almost immediately upon arriving at the house party with Undyne by her side. His eyelights were faded, and his perpetual grin drooped if only the slightest bit. The biggest tell was honestly Papyrus’ worried glances towards him, but those were quickly diverted from worry to distaste when he cracked yet another half-hearted joke.  
After the initial greeting, Undyne and Papyrus got to chatting. Alphys used this chance to scope things out with Sans.  
She took a seat next to him on the couch, watching their overexcitable friends across the room with a polite smile. “Nice w-weather, huh?” ...It wasn’t the most creative starter for her to use, but she had a plan concerning it, so the initial awkwardness had to do.  
“yup,” Sans said in response, relaxing deeper into the cushions, “seein’ the snow is always the hil-ice of my day.”  
Alphys creased a brow. That pun was worse than usual….something was DEFINITELY up. “Why don’t we go enjoy it, then? I think s-some time on the balcony wouldn’t d-do us any harm, if you’re okay with it…”  
Sans looked over to Undyne and Papyrus, who were setting up a console and sifting through some games respectively. “you sure we can leave those two alone, doc? i’ve heard they can be trouble if left unchecked.”  
She shook her head and stood. “Y-you and I both know you’re the biggest tr-troublemaker of all of us, d-doofus. Are we going or n-not?”  
Sans looked at her for a minute, eyelights flickering slightly. Then, he gave a sigh of resignation and stood as well. “alright, fine. but i’m sitting down again once we get outside.”  
Alphys chuckled. Even walking up some stairs was too much for him, huh. The two made their way up the stairs and down the hall, Alphys running her hand along the bannister as she went. When they reached the end of the hall, Sans held the balcony door open for her with a mock bow, and she chuckled again.  
Icy flurries cascaded down, slowly but surely adding to the giant snow piles of the region. The winter air was cool and brisk, and it nipped at anyone with skin. Alphys shivered, wishing she’d brought a jacket, but pushed the thought aside when she heard the door fully shut behind the two.  
Alphys crossed her arms and turned towards Sans, giving him a serious look that took him off guard.  
“hey, what’s with that look?” He was sweating, somehow.   
“Something’s u-up with you tonight,” she said, making her voice as confident as possible. “I just wanted to check in.”  
He shrugged. “pssh. cmon, al, y’don’t gotta waste time worrying about me. i’ll be fine like i always am.”  
“Saying you will be fine implies you aren’t fine now.” Her tone softened. “You know you can tell me anything, Sans.”  
He looked like he was going to refute, but he stayed silent, opting instead to look off towards the lake behind the house.   
After a few long moments, he spoke. “....how’d you know?”  
“W-well, it was kinda obvious, but...I wasn’t going to bring it up in fr-front of Papyrus or Undyne. Y-you know, just in case it’s obvious to me but not them? Well, Papyrus was giving you looks too, b-but he wants to keep the guests entertained, s-so-”  
“what i mean is, why are you pressing like this? don’t you have your own stuff goin’ on?”  
Alphys hummed, thinking. “I’ve b-been doing pretty good in that aspect lately, actually. I’m more worried about you.” She looked him straight in the eyesockets. “You really think I wouldn’t notice after all those years of knowing you????”  
When he just gave another surprised look, she sighed. “L-look. You’ve been there for me tons of times when things didn’t g-go right back in the lab, and now I j-just wanna sort of…...r-return the favor, yknow? I feel like it would at least….it would at least help t-to try. Even, just...talking things out, maybe???”  
He stared at her for another long moment, then gripped his hood with a sigh. “.....alright. i guess it wouldn’t hurt to try.”   
He stared off to the lake again, gathering his thoughts. Alphys gave him time and her full attention, noticing how the subtle glow of the christmas lights on the railing and the gutters tinted his creamy-white skull, the gentle green reflecting off his eyelights and the sharp red highlighting the curvature of the bone.   
“i dunno, al,” he started, “i just have a bad feeling. as if something really, really bad is about to happen. maybe it’s someone showin’ up outta nowhere, or something going terribly awry…..dunno what it is i’m dreading exactly. but the feeling is still there, yknow? and it kinda feels like….i can’t escape it. like the dread is immeasurable.”  
Alphys stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder as she thought of how to respond. “I...wow. How long h-have you been feeling li-like this for…?”  
“dunno. a few days. a week or so. …….a few months..?”   
That just deepened her worried look, and Sans threw his hands up in defense. “hey now, cmon. don’t act like good ol’ sans can’t handle it by himself!”   
“You could,” Alphys said, “but you don’t have to.”   
Sans stayed silent, so she went on. “Wh-why do you even hide stuff like this in the first place? You’re surrounded by people who care about you who would gladly sit down and listen! Why not let us help you??????”  
“i don’t like draggin’ people down, is all. a comedian’s job is to make people forget their troubles, not give ‘em more to worry about.”   
“But you’re m-more than that to us. W-we care about you, Sans.”  
“i know...but i still don’t wanna dampen the mood. speakin of, we should really get back inside.” He started to open the door, and Alphys just shook her head.  
“...I’ll let you drop this f-for now. But I’ll make it up to you!!”  
He stopped and looked at her. “how’re you gonna do that?”  
“I...um…..” She thought for a moment, then grinned. “I’m….I’m g-gonna make this get-together the funnest one you’ve ever been to!!!!!! I swear on my title as Royal Scientist that you’re gonna have fun tonight.”  
“really now?” his grin returned to full force. “y’want me to call the king and make it official?”  
“P-please don’t call King Asgore this late, we shouldn’t bother him…” Alphys said, “b-because...because you WILL have fun!!!! S-so there’s no risk to either of us, oh god please don’t get my boss actually involved….”  
“heh. don’t worry about it, al. now let’s get back inside before your scales turn blue.”  
She didn’t realize how cold she was until he said that, so when he held the door open for her a second time she rushed inside, zipping by so fast her “thank you” was almost inaudible.   
By the time she made it down the stairs, Sans was already slumped on the couch despite coming inside after her. Undyne and Papyrus were on the couch as well, one on either side with Sans smushed in the middle. She just shrugged and waved hello to Undyne and Papyrus.  
“OH! SANS! ALPHYS! I DID NOT KNOW YOU WERE GONE UNTIL YOU RETURNED TO US THIS VERY MOMENT!” Papyrus waved, then focused back to the TV screen where a cart-racing game was currently being displayed in split-screen.  
“I noticed,” Undyne muttered from her side of the couch. Alphys sat between her and Sans, huddling closer to the former. Undyne wrapped an arm around her instinctively, readjusting the controller in her grip to account for the lizard now by her side.  
“It’s a-alright. Um, wh-what are you two playing…?” Alphys tried to hide the blush on her face, but Sans gave her a sly grin that only made things worse. Undyne didn’t notice, at the very least, due to being too focused on her game.  
“A GAME UNDYNE FOUND IN THE DUMP!!” Papyrus piped up, full of cheer as ever. “I SAW THE CAR ON THE FRONT AND INSISTED WE PLAY IT! DIDN’T CATCH THE NAME, THOUGH.” The round ended, with Papyrus’ character the skeletal turtle as the victor. “WOWIE! I WON!”  
Undyne leaned down and whispered to her two shorter friends. “You’d think he’d be less excited after winning every round thus far, but he’s surprised every damn time.”  
“...huh.”  
Alphys glanced over to Sans, then got an idea. “Say, d-do you have anymore controllers? We’d like to play, too!”  
“wait, al, i don’t think i could-”  
“WELL WHY DIDN’T YOU BOTH SAY SO? I WILL GLADLY CONNECT SOME EXTRA CONTROLLERS SO THE FOUR OF US CAN ALL HAVE FUN TOGETHER!”  
And just like that, Papyrus had connected the controllers and shoved it into his friend’s-willing or not-hands. He re-selected his character and waited for everyone else to do the same.  
“This game needs some more aquatic rep,” Undyne said, selecting the same squid girl character as before.  
“that sounds kinda fishy,” Sans said, selecting the first character on the list without looking to see who it was. “ ‘cause if anything, an aquatic character would drive a cavi-car. ”  
Undyne groaned and Alphys did too, but when she looked over Sans was smiling more genuinely. She selected the green hero character and snuggled closer to Undyne with a smile of her own.  
As the night went on, Sans got more into it, even winning a few races against his usually-triumphant brother. By the time they had to leave, he was feeling much better and Alphys could tell.  
“before you go,” Sans said, pulling her aside, “i just wanted to say….thanks.”  
Alphys practically beamed. “Oh, not a problem!! That’s what friends are for, right?”  
Sans nodded. “yeah. i, uh, meant about blue shelling paps during that one race, though. really saved my win streak of -72.”  
“Riiight. Sure you did.” Alphys just patted his shoulder. “Remember we’re here for you, alright? Take care.” With that and a wave, Alphys went back with Undyne, and the two of them left.  
“....yeah. take care.” He watched them go, and for once the dread didn’t return. It was as if a weight had been taken off his shoulders.  
For the time being.


End file.
